


in the days to come

by RonnieMinor



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Aftermath, Ambiguous Relationships, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Moving On
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-16
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-20 09:05:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/885470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RonnieMinor/pseuds/RonnieMinor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Together, they saved the world. But the world doesn't need saving any more, so where does that leave them?</p><p>What life after the Kaiju holds for Mako and Raleigh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in the days to come

**Author's Note:**

> Both times I've seen Pacific Rim, I've left the cinema wondering what the future holds for everyone involved in the Jaeger program, especially Raleigh and Mako. This is just me exploring some ideas.
> 
> I've also purposefully left the Raleigh/Mako relationship as ambiguous. If you want to read it as shippy, go ahead. Likewise if you'd rather read it as platonic.
> 
> And with regard to timelines, my headcanon is that the final epic smackdown took place on the 20th December, 2025, and that Yancy Becket's birthday is the 11th January.

They hold a funeral for Stacker nine days after they seal the breach, under a cold, wet English sky. There’s no body – of course – but Mako insists. She says it’s what Stacker would have wanted, and Raleigh’s in no position to argue. So they put his uniform in the coffin, along with a few personal effects that Raleigh doesn’t look at too closely. Then they stand and watch as the coffin is lowered into the ground. All around them, the rain splashes wetly against the sodden grass. 

Raleigh can barely see Mako’s face under her umbrella. When the service is over though, he sees that her cheeks are tear-stained. There aren’t any words to make it better, so he puts his hand over hers (clenched tightly around the handle of her umbrella, knuckles white) and squeezes gently. It’s not enough – won’t ever be enough, and he knows it – but it’s something. Then he retreats to a respectful distance and lets Mako say her final goodbyes in peace. 

They stay in London for four more days. Mako takes care of Stacker’s affairs, and the rest of the world celebrates New Year’s Eve. Every time either of them goes outside, they’re mobbed by grateful citizens. It doesn’t stop raining the entire time. 

It’s raining in Hong Kong too, and they get soaked as they run inside from the chopper. The clouds fade as the afternoon passes though; the sun sets in a clear, pink-streaked sky. Raleigh watches it from the top of the Shatterdome, looking out at what’s left of Hong Kong. He can already see signs of reconstruction beginning. This time, he supposes it’ll be permanent. He doesn’t quite know how to feel about that; doesn’t really know how to handle the fact that it’s over. It’s finally over. 

It’s been almost two weeks. The reality still hasn’t sunk in. 

At first, it was because the only thing he was feeling was pure, furious relief. He and Mako clung to each other, sitting in the middle of an ocean that belonged to humanity again. Then, as a chopper carried them back to the Shatterdome, a sort of numb disbelief kicked in. When they reached land, his body was flooded with unbridled elation. 

_We did it!_ people kept saying, as they came up to shake his hand. _We really did it!_ Over and over and over they kept coming, until his arm was aching and his fingers were losing feeling. If Herc hadn’t stepped in, it would’ve carried on all night. 

It took a couple of hours for the adrenaline and euphoria to wear off, and that’s when the loss really hit him. Stacker’s absence was suddenly as palpable as a punch in the gut, and Raleigh was fiercely grateful for the fact that Herc supplies an escort to take him and Mako back to their rooms. He honestly doesn’t think he could have handled any more congratulations at that point. As for Mako… with his Drift-knowledge, it was pretty clear that she was close to losing it. He wasn’t at all surprised when she knocked on his door about an hour later. 

She didn’t say anything; just curled up on his bed in a tight knot of grief. Carefully, he’d lain down beside her, fitting his body around hers. And then he’d simply held her for the rest of the night. Come the morning, his arm was asleep, his shirt was damp and her eyes were red. She seemed a little less like she was about to shatter though. 

They didn’t talk about it – still haven’t, really – but somehow, things were ok. As ok as they could be, anyway. 

What with the first fear-free Christmas falling just five days after ‘Breach Day’, the party didn’t wind down for the better part of a week. In that time, he and Mako were submitted to endless interviews, both from jubilant news teams and grateful but suspicious military personnel. He was losing his voice by the time it was finally over. 

They flew to London the next day. 

Now, staring at the sun as it slips below the horizon, the realisation begins to take hold. For the first time in twelve years, the world is safe. For the first time in _twelve years_ , the only monsters in the Pacific are the ones that have always been there. And for the first time since Yancy’s death, it doesn’t feel like his brother died for nothing. He should be happy. All he really feels is empty. 

Raleigh watches the Hong Kong skyline for a long, long time. It’s only when the last of the daylight fades that he heads inside. 

* * *

Herc comes back from Australia three days later, looking exhausted. 

‘How was it?’ Raleigh asks quietly. Herc’s jaw tightens. 

‘Like hell’, he replies. ‘How about you?’ 

Raleigh grimaces. ‘Pretty similar.’ He shakes his head. ‘We barely got a moment’s peace in London. They had to station cops around the cemetery to keep the public out.’ 

‘That’s tough’, Herc says, his mouth twisting. ‘I didn’t have to deal with that, thank God. My place is so far out in the bush most people don’t even know it exists. Chuck used to say it was a bloody nuisance.’ He stops, his gaze falling to the ground. 

‘He died a hero’, Raleigh tells him. ‘That’s more than most people can say.’ 

Herc grins ruefully. ‘He always did have to be number one.’ Then he clears his throat. ‘So what’s the news from the PPDC?’ 

* * *

The news from the PPDC is that there is no news. Instead, there are endless messages about press conferences and PR commitments. Naïvely, Raleigh had thought that after the initial excitement people would have more important things to think about. As it turns out though, he was wrong. The world wants heroes, and the PPDC is more than willing to oblige. 

He and Mako spend _weeks_ giving interviews and smiling for the camera. Their time is not their own. There are news teams and journalists to talk to; TV programs and magazines to make appearances in; photoshoots and events where they spend hours posing for cameras. Raleigh spends his brother’s birthday being fitted for designer suits and fussed over by stylists. 

It’s nearly March before things start to calm down, and by then Raleigh is angry. Once upon a time, he’d have been happy with all the attention. Now, it just pisses him off. He’s a Jaeger pilot, not a celebrity. His life doesn’t need to be splashed across the pages of some gossip magazine. 

‘I’m sick of this’, he tells Mako one evening. They’re in the back of a limo, on their way to some event or other, and he’s had enough. 

Mako nods. ‘Me too’, she says quietly. ‘This is not what we were trained for.’ 

And that’s it in a nutshell. The trouble is that there aren’t any Jaegers left, and no need to build any more. The world needed saving back then. Now though… now they’re obsolete, token heroes from a bygone age. It’s only been two months, but it might as well have been two years. 

Raleigh shakes his head unhappily. ‘I don’t think do this for much longer’, he admits. ‘I can’t be their poster boy for the rest of my life, to be taken out and shown off at every goddam Kaiju attack memorial.’ He looks at Mako. ‘How did you do it? After Tokyo?’ 

She glances down at her hands, folded neatly in the sparkling folds of her dress. ‘I used to imagine I was in the Drift. I used to tune everything out until it was just silence.’ She looks up and meets his eye again. ‘I can’t do it anymore.’ 

For a moment, a memory flashes through Raleigh’s head: Stacker Pentecost, haloed by the sun, standing on top of a Jaeger and smiling down at a little girl holding a red shoe. Then it passes, and all he sees are Mako’s eyes, shining with unshed tears. 

He reaches for her hands and takes them in his own, squeezing gently. ‘How do you feel about running away?’ he asks. 

Mako’s small, bright smile tells him everything he needs to know. 

* * *

Australia is hotter than Hong Kong. Drier too. The heat here shimmers over the horizon; hits heavy against the skin. It’s a world away from Alaska, and briefly, Raleigh wonders if this was such a good idea after all. 

Suddenly Herc is there, a wide grin splitting his face. He hugs Raleigh hard. It’s grounding; for the first time a months, Raleigh feels normal again. Then there’s the way Mako’s shoulders soften when she sees Max. That alone is enough to reassure Raleigh that they made the right choice. 

‘I’ve cleared out a couple of rooms for you guys’, Herc tells them on the way to his truck. ‘And the rest of your stuff should get here in a week or so. In the meantime, I’ve got plenty to keep you busy.’ 

Raleigh raises an eyebrow at that. ‘Oh yeah? Like what?’ 

Herc grins. ‘How do you two feel about learning to ride a horse?’ 

Mako’s look of abject horror makes Raleigh laugh so hard that he actually pulls something. 

* * *

That evening, Raleigh finds Mako standing on the porch and looking out across the land. The night is hot and still, full of animal calls and the buzz of crickets. Above them, the night sky is ablaze with stars. It’s like nothing he’s ever seen before, and it takes his breath away. 

‘What do you think?’ he asks. 

Mako doesn’t look at him, but he sees the curve of her smile and the firm nod of her head. ‘It’s good’, she says. 

And it is.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are much appreciated :)


End file.
